Fifth phase of polls crucial for BJP

Dinesh Manhotra

Tribune News Service

Kathua, December 20

The outcome of today’s polling will determine BJP’s future course of politics in this only Muslim dominated state of the country.

Although the BJP has fielded candidates for 72 Assembly seats, the fifth and final phase is crucial as the party had conducted some new experiments in 20 constituencies of Jammu, Rajouri and Kathua.

The party has successfully wooed some prominent politicians of other parties and fielded them. This is the first time in the state that the party has played a political gamble by fielding a Muslim candidate on a Hindu majority seat and vice-versa.

Abdul Gani Kohli, a former Congress leader, was given the party ticket for the Kalakot Assembly seat, which is dominated by the Hindus. Kohli, a retired engineer, had started his political career with the Congress and later joined the PDP. When the PDP refused him a ticket from Kalakot, he embraced the BJP. The party has also fielded Thakur Puran Singh, a former Congress leader, from Darhal, a Muslim dominated constituency of Rajouri district.

It has conducted another experiment by fielding a Muslim candidate Choudhary Talib Hussain from a communal sensitive constituency of Rajouri. Talib Hussain, a veteran politician, has switched a number of parties before joining the BJP.

The party has fielded veteran politicians from other parties in three out of four seats of Rajouri. The outcome of these three seats will determine the future course of action of the party in this state.